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ADDRESSES 

AT  THE  OPENING  OF 

CIjp  ^pniisijtoank 

FEMALE  COLLEGE 


5 


ADDRESSES 


DELIVERED  AT  THE  OPENING  OF  THE 


PENNSYLVANIA  FEMALE  COLLEGE, 

AT  HARRISBURG, 


GOVERNOR  BIGLER,  PROFESSORS  WAUGH  AND  TIFFANY: 


WITH 


A LIST  OF  THE  OFFICERS. 


II ARRISBURG: 


1853. 


PRINTED  BY  A.  BOYD  HAMILTON, 

75  Market  St.,  Harrisburg. 


emeiits  ®f  tmi  coLmei 


WILLIA3I  BIGLER,  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

A.  O.  HIESTER,  Treasurer. 

J.  J.  CLYDE,  Secretary. 

BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES. 

WILLIAM  BIGLER,  Governor  of  the  Commonwealth,  ex  officio. 
CHARLES  A.  BLACK,  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools,  ex  officio. 
LUTHER  REILY,  M.  D.,  Harrisburg, 

A.  O.  HIESTER  “ 

JOHN  MAGLAUGHLIN,  “ 


BENJAMIN  PARSE,  « 

JOHN  J.  CLYDE,  “ 

ROBERT  J.  ROSS,  “ 

STEPHEN  MILLER,  “ 

DANIEL  W.  GROSS,  « 


HAMILTON  ALRICKS, 

ROBERT  A.  LAMBERTON,  “ 

JOHN  H.  BRIGGS,  “ 

WILLIAM  DOCK,  “ 

SIMON  CAMERON,  Middletown, 

C.  E.  BLUMENTHAL,  Carlisle, 

O.  H.  TIFFANY,  “ 

JAMES  BUCHANAN,  Lancaster, 

GEORGE  FORD,  “ 

JOHN  WEIDMAN,  Lebanon, 

LEYI  KLINE,  “ 

WILLIAM  H.  ALLEN,  Philadelphia, 

JOB  R.  TYSON,  “ 

GEORGE  M.  WHARTON,  « 

PRINCIPAL  OF  THE  COLLEGE, 

B.  R.  WAUGH,  A.  M.,  (late  of  Baltimore  Female  College.) 

PRINCIPAL  FEMALE  TEACHER. 

Mrs.  C.  D.  S.  GETZ,  Harrisburg. 


NOTE. 


By  the  Charter  of  this  new  College,  the  Governor  of  the  Common- 
wealth of  Pennsylvania  and  the  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools, 
are  ex  officio  Trustees.  At  their  first  meeting,  Governor  Bigler  was 

elected  President  of  the  Board. 

The  ceremonies  at  the  opening  of  the  College  on  the  5th  of  Sep 

tember,  1853,  were — 

An  Introductory  Address  by  His  Excellency  Governor  Bigler,  Pre- 
sident of  the  Board  of  Trustees, 

An  Inaugural  Address  by  B.  R.  Waugh,  A.  M.,  Principal  of  the 

College,  and 

A Literary  Address  by  Professor  O.  H.  Tiffany,  of  Dickinson  Col 
lege,  Carlisle. 

These  Addresses  have  been  furnished  for  publication  in  pursuance  ol 
a resolution  of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

.1.  J.  CLYDE, 

Secretary. 

Harrisburg,  October,  1853. 


• 

• 

ADDRESS  OF  GOVERNOR  BIGLER. 


Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  — 

I am  most  happy  to  meet  you  on  this  very  interesting 
occasion,  and  to  hail  you,  one  and  all,  as  co- laborers  in 
the  great  work  which  we  are  about  to  commence  this 
morning. 

The  Legislature  of  the  State,  during  its  last  session, 
passed  an  act  providing  for  the  establishment  of  a 
“ Female  College  ” at  Harrisburg,  having  for  its  aim 
“the  liberal  education  of  Females  in  the  various  branches 
of  Science,  Literature  and  the  learned  and  foreign  Lan- 
guages”— to  be  known  as  the  “Pennsylvania  Female 
College.” 

Under  the  provisions  of  this  law,  the  gentlemen  named 
as  trustees  of  the  proposed  Institution,  have  made  the 
necessary  preliminary  arrangements,  and  we  have  assem- 
bled here  to-day  to  witness,  and  to  participate  in  the  cere- 
monies incident  to  the  dedication  of  the  first  college  that 
has  been  founded  at  the  Capital  of  our  great  State. 

It  may  lie  matter  of  surprise  to  many,  as  I know  it 
should  be  of  regret  to  all,  that  this  event  did  not  occur 
long  since — that  the  females  of  this  community  have  so 
long  been  deprived  of  the  advantages  of  an  institution  of 
this  kind.  But,  in  our  gratitude  for  present  blessings,  we 
can  afford  to  forget  the  short-comings  of  the  past.  Let 


8 


PENNSYLVANIA 


us  be  thankful  too,  that  it  has  been  our  good  fortune  to 
have  this  opportunity  of  participating  in  a work  so  credi- 
table to  this  community  — so  congenial  to  the  noblest  im- 
pulses of  our  nature,  and  so  consistent  with  the  highest 
purposes  of  civilized  society.  As  President  ex  officio  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees,  I am  proud  of  the  relation  my 
name  is  to  bear  to  this  commendable  enterprise.  It  is  this 
relation  that  has  assigned  to  me  the  duty  of  participating 
in  the  ceremonies  of  the  occasion,  by  briefly  alluding  to 
the  objects  and  inevitable  tendencies  of  the  proposed 
College. 

In  discharging  this  duty,  I would  first  remark  to  the 
trustees  and  the  citizens  of  this  community  generally — 
that  they  have  certainly  never  engaged  in  an  enterprise 
more  creditable  to  themselves — more  consistent  with  the 
purest  purposes  and  the  highest  aims  of  the  human  heart, 
than  the  establishment,  in  your  midst,  of  a College  for  the 
education  of  females;  and  I am  quite  sure  you  have  never 
been  engaged  in  one  so  likely  to  bestow  the  choicest  bless- 
ings on  society.  Your  railroads,  your  iron  mills  and  cot- 
ton factories,  are  all  well  enough  in  their  place.  These 
have  been  useful,  in  giving  employment  to  the  laborer 
and  mechanic,  and  in  adding  to  the  general  prosperity 
and  wealth  of  the  State ; but  these  considerations  sink  into 
insignificance,  when  compared  with  the  high  purpose  of 
this  new  enterprise.  As  much  as  the  intellectual  cultiva- 
tion of  woman  rises  in  our  estimation,  above  the  mere 
physical  improvement  of  the  country  and  the  accumulation 
of  wealth,  must  it  stand  above  all  others  to  which  I have 
referred.  Let  me  invoke  you  then,  to  make  the  main- 
tenance and  success  of  the  Pennsylvania  Female  College 
a special  care  for  the  present.  In  its  infancy,  let  it  have 
your  aid  and  countenance,  that  you  may  enjoy  the  blessed 


FEMALE  COLLEGE. 


9 


fruits  of  its  maturity.  Let  lie  who  is  rich  give  freely  of 
his  abundance,  and  he  who  is  poor  contribute  his  mite. — 
Let  the  old  speak  words  of  encouragement  — the  vigorous 
extend  a helping  hand,  and  the  young  a willing  patron- 
age; for,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  this  institution  is 
to  be  dedicated  exclusively  to  the  education  of  woman , we 
shall  not  rate  him  a real  man  who  withholds  from  it  that 
support  which  he  can  well  afford  to  give. 

A better  time  for  the  establishment  of  a “Female  Col- 
lege” than  the  present,  or  a more  eligible  location  than 
this,  could  not  lie  selected.  The  time  is  befitting,  be- 
cause this  work  cannot  be  done  to  soon.  The  location  is 
desirable,  as  it  is  at  the  seat  of  Government  of  our  great 
and  prosperous  State,  accessible  by  rail-roads  from  all  parts 
of  the  Commonwealth,  and  surrounded  by  a rich  and  pop- 
ulous country.  The  citizens  of  Harrisburg,  in  addition,  I 
am  confident,  are  deeply  impressed  with  the  value  of  an 
institution  of  this  kind,  and  are  prepared  to  sustain  and 
cherish  it.  In  a community  like  this,  abounding  in  wealth 
and  refinement — where  the  moral  and  social  virtues  are 
so  generally  cultivated — where  individual  efforts  have 
been  so  efficient  in  the  promotion  of  literary  and  scholas- 
tic attainments — an  institution  for  the  Education  of  fe- 
males, cannot  fail.  In  the  solid  basis  thus  prepared  — in 
the  moral,  social,  and  I may  say,  religious  tone  of  feeling 
in  this  community,  we  have  an  ample  guarantee  for  the 
triumph  of  this  generous  work. 

But  what  next  shall  I say  on  this  subject?  The  gen- 
eral principles  of  education — the  manner  of  imparting 
them — their  character  and  consequences,  open  a field  so 
wide  and  so  prolific  of  interesting  thought,  that  I dare  not 
attempt  to  examine  the  smallest  of  these  ideas  in  detail ; 
and  yet  the  theme,  in  all  its  parts,  is  so  enticing  that  it  is 


10 


PENNSYLVANIA 


hard  to  be  forced  to  merely  touch  the  surface  as  we  run 
by.  I have  concluded,  however,  that  a slight  glance  at 
the  history  of  education  in  our  State,  might  not  be  out  of 
place,  or  entirely  uninteresting. 

We  learn,  then,  that  at  a very  early  day,  in  the  history 
of  the  Commonwealth,  the  cause  of  education  received  a 
measure  of  consideration  from  those  in  authority.  In 
1701,  long  before  the  adoption  of  the  first  Constitution, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  founder  of  our  Commonwealth, 
the  revered  Penn,  a charter  was  granted  for  a school,  un- 
der the  somewhat  quaint  or  Quakerish  title  of  “The  over- 
seers of  the  public  schools,  founded  in  Philadelphia,  at  the 
request,  cost  and  charges  of  the  people  of  God,  called  the 
Quakers.”  Subsequently  this  title  was  changed  at  the  in- 
stance of  Penn  himself,  by  the  addition  of  the  beautiful 
and  significant  motto  “Good  instruction  is  better  than 
riches.”  In  1753  a Public  School  was  established  in  Phil- 
adelphia, known  as  “The  Academy  and  Charitable  School, 
of  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania.”  In  1789  this  institu- 
tion became  permanently  merged  in  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  as  such  it  still  flourishes  with  great 
vigor  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  “The  Dickinson  Col- 
lege,” at  Carlisle,  was  next  founded.  It  was  opened 
about  the  year  1784.  Then  followed  the  “Jefferson,”  at 
Cannonsburg,  and  the  “Washington,”  at  the  town  of 
Washington,  in  1802.  Then  sprung  up  a brood  of  small- 
er institutions  in  different  parts  of  the  State.  Next,  the 
Legislature  endowed  academies  in  nearly  every  county 
of  the  Commonwealth,  and  these  were  followed  by  the 
erection  of  the  log  school  house  on  every  hill  and  in  every 
dale  in  the  State.  Thus  the  cause  of  Education  was  made 
to  move  hand  in  hand  with  the  progress  of  Civilization 
and  Improvement.  The  pioneers  in  the  settlement  of  our 


FEMALE  COLLEGE. 


11 


State,  whose  brave  hearts  encountered  the  savage  in  his 
home,  and  whose  strong  arms  subdued  the  forest,  and  made 
the  “wilderness  to  bud  and  blossom  as  the  rose,”  were  not 
insensible  to  the  value  of  Education  in  the  higher  branches 
of  Science  and  Literature.  We  should  profit  by  them  noble 
example,  and  catching  the  inspiration  of  them  times,  we 
should  be  willing  to  sacrifice  much  of  individual  purpose 
on  the  altar  of  the  general  good. 

But  the  great  event  of  all,  in  the  history  of  education 
in  our  State,  was  the  adoption  of  the  Common  School  sys- 
tem. This  institution  was  the  offspring  of  a constitutional 
injunction — and  started  under  the  auspices  of  wise  heads, 
pure,  benevolent  and  Christian  hearts.  The  injunction 
in  our  first  Constitution,  and  repeated  in  the  second, 
“ that  the  poor  should  be  taught  gratis,”  and  “the  arts  and 
sciences  be  promoted  in  one  or  more  seminaries  of  learn- 
ing,” has  not  been  an  idle  promise,  kept  to  the  ear  and 
broken  to  the  hope.  But  the  mandate  has  been  obeyed  in 
its  true  sense.  The  rich  as  well  as  the  poor,  are  now  taught 
at  the  Institution  of  the  Government — they  meet  on  the 
same  level,  and  partake  of  the  same  great  fountain  of  truth 
and  knowledge.  Thanks  to  the  good  men  and  true,  who 
have  preceded  us  in  the  control  of  public  affairs,  and  de- 
signed, founded  and  sustained  our  Common  School  system. 
It  should  be  our  ambition  and  pride  to  cherish,  perfect, 
and  extend  it. 

In  all  Countries,  and  in  all  ages  of  the  world,  Education 
and  Knowledge  has  been  essential  to  the  happiness  of  the 
human  race,  and  indispensably  necessary  to  the  attain- 
ment of  great  national  honor,  order  and  prosperity ; “for 
education  begetteth  knowledge,  and  knowledge,  righteous- 
ness, and  this  exalteth  a nation.”  Education,  knowledge, 
the  elevation  of  the  moral  faculties,  and  the  diffusion  of 


12 


PENNSYLVANIA 


religious  principles,  is  a work  of  transcendent  importance 
to  the  people  of  a government  like  ours.  Under  this 
system,  the  mass  of  the  people  are  the  recognized  source 
of  all  legitimate  governmental  power,  and  circumscribed 
by  only  a few  general  fundamental  rules,  which  they 
can  change  in  a prescribed  way,  they  may  lie  regarded  as 
the  government — as  the  authors  and  administratorsof  law 
— as  the  guardians  of  the  public  weal,  and  the  dispensers 
of  political  favors.  Their  will  gives  direction  to  public 
affairs,  and  to  the  extent  that  that  will  is  guided  by 
a refined  and  intelligent  judgment,  may  we  expect  the 
policy  of  the  government  to  be  wise  and  just.  The  means 
of  Education  for  the  great  body  of  the  people,  should, 
therefore,  bear  a proper  relation  to  the  high  functions  de- 
volved upon  them  by  our  fundamental  law.  To  prepare 
the  people  for  this  high  and  sacred  trust,  should  be  the 
first  care  of  the  good  and  wise  of  all  parties.  The  elector 
should  be  educated — should  be  intelligent — in  order  that 
he  may  make  a virtuous  and  independent  use  of  the  pre- 
rogatives conferred  upon  him  by  our  Constitution;  for  in 
this  is  found  the  principal  safeguard  for  our  Republican 
institutions.  That  our  forefathers  were  impressed  with 
this  idea,  is  clearly  manifested  in  the  constitutional  in- 
junction upon  the  Legislature  to  provide  for  the  Educa- 
tion of  the  poor.  The  idea  is  in  harmony  with  our  repub- 
lican policy,  and  the  similitude  of  our  Common  School 
system  to  our  free  institutions,  should  endear  it  to  every 
patriotic  heart.  It  reflects  the  beauties  of  the  principles 
of  benevolence  and  equality,  as  found  in  our  free  Govern- 
ment. As  such  it  should  be  cherished  as  a most  sacred 
branch  of  our  government — as  the  strong  arm  of  our  de- 
fence as  a people — as  our  gateway  to  knowledge  and 
science  — as  a common  nursery  for  the  youthful  mind,  in 


FEMALE  COLLEGE. 


13 


which  shall  be  sown  the  seeds  of  knowledge,  to  be  trans- 
planted in  the  tender  twig  throughout  the  whole  land  — 
as  the  grand  trunk  of  our  educational  system,  from  which 
all  the  higher  branches  may  spring — as  the  means  by 
which  the  hidden  gems  of  intellect,  often  found  in  the 
ranks  of  poverty,  may  be  brought  to  light — by  which  the 
fragrant  flower,  wasting  its  sweetness  on  the  desert  air 
may  be  transplanted  to  a genial  and  cultivated  soil.  To 
the  poor,  the  needy  and  helpless  youth,  the  unbought 
bounties  of  our  Common  School  system  come  like  the  dews 
from  Heaven  on  the  tender  grass — like  the  morning  sun 
on  the  opening  bud,  exercising  a refreshing  and  invigora- 
ting influence,  leading  to  maturity  and  usefulness. 

But  I must  not  overlook  entirely  the  peculiar  character- 
istics of  this  institution.  It  is  intended  exclusively  for 
the  education  of  Females  in  the  “various  branches  of  Sci- 
ence, Literature,  and  the  learned  and  Foreign  Languages.” 
I am,  I must  confess  to  you,  my  fair  hearers,  no  advocate 
of  woman’s  rights,  as  practised  by  Lucretia  Mott,  Lucy 
Stone,  Antoinette  Brown,  and  others  of  your  sex — nor 
am  I an  admirer,  to  any  extent,  of  the  Bloomer  costume. 
But  I go  for  your  rights  to  an  Institution  of  this  kind, 
with  all  my  heart.  I go  for  every  means  to  develope  the 
Female  mind,  and  to  train  properly  her  moral  faculties.  I 
go  for  every  measure  that  is  calculated  to  elevate  and  dig- 
nify the  attributes  of  her  character,  and  that  is  to  make 
her  approximate  the  image  of  her  maker — to  kindle  and 
strengthen  the  intellectual  flame,  that  it  may  consume  the 
baser  qualities  of  nature,  and  enable  her  to  shine  forth  as 
a light  in  society.  I shall  not,  therefore,  annoy  you  by  a 
serious  inquiry  into  the  propriety  and  utility  of  an  Insti- 
tution intended  specially  to  promote  these  ends,  nor  shall 
I wound  the  sensibilities  of  your  nature,  by  suggesting,  as 


14 


PENNSYLVANIA 


has  been  gravely  done,  on  similar  occasions,  that  Woman 
must  be  educated  in  the  higher  branches  to  make  her  a fit 
companion  for  man.  This  idea  may  be,  indeed  it  is  mea- 
surably correct,  but  the  converse  of  the  proposition,  accord- 
ing to  my  view,  is  still  more  sound.  Man  should  be  edu- 
cated to  make  him  the  fit  companion  of  Woman.  But  we 
can  afford  to  drop  this  controversy  and  conclude  that  both 
should  be  educated — that  the  interest  and  happiness  of 
one  sex  is  involved  in  the  education  and  correct  moral 
training  of  the  other.  If  one  only  were  educated  and 
refined  both  would  be  unhappy.  — Our  original  qualities 
are  too  similar,  and  our  associations  and  sympathies  through 
life,  too  identical  to  admit  of  so  wide  a separation. — Nor 
should  it  be  suggested  that  the  Female  intellect  is  not 
equal  to  the  higher  branches  of  education.  The  power  of 
the  Female  mind  has  been  sufficiently  vindicated  in  the 
triumphs  of  Miss  Somerville,  of  Miss  Bowditch,  in  Mathe- 
matics and  Astronomy — in  the  elegant  and  heart-stirring 
productions  of  Hannah  Moore,  of  Miss  Edgeworth,  of  Mrs. 
Hemans,  of  Miss  Sedgewick,  and  a host  of  other  brilliant 
contributors  to  the  works  of  science  and  literature  in 
Europe  and  in  this  country.  Nature,  however,  has  marked 
a field  and  sphere  for  both  sexes — and  that  sphere  is  equal 
to  the  physical,  moral,  and  intellectual  qualities  of  each — 
and  should  be  equal  to  the  highest  ambition.  Woman, 
from  her  delicate  form  and  finer  sensibilities,  may  not  be 
permitted  to  appear  in  the  Halls  of  Legislation,  nor  to 
command  on  the  field  of  battle.  But  in  the  domestic  and 
the  social  circle — in  the  great  work  of  constraining  the 
youthful  mind  to  right  inclinations — in  the  formation  of 
character,  her  influence  is  most  potent.  Much  of  the 
character  of  the  son  will  depend  upon  the  training  of  the 
mother — the  elevated  principles  and  correct  moral  pre- 


FEMALE  COLLEGE. 


1-3 


cepts  which  she  has  implanted  in  the  mind  when  free  and 
susceptible,  shines  forth  and  adorns  and  distinguishes  the 
man. 

The  world  attributes  all  to  him,  and  lavishes  its  glories 
on  his  head.  The  real  work  was  that  of  an  unseen  mother. 
There  is  no  such  thing  as  over-estimating  the  influence  of 
a refined  mother,  wife,  and  sister,  on  the  domestic  and 
social  circle ; it  acts  like  a magic  spell  in  restraining  vice 
and  advancing  virtue.  The  rudest  man  the  earth  ever 
bore,  will  cower  and  be  restrained  in  the  presence  of  a high- 
toned,  refined  lady.  But,  this  blessed,  this  benign  influ- 
ence of  woman,  cannot  be  imparted  by  her  without  educa- 
tion— without  that  knowledge  of  the  book  of  revelation 
and  the  book  of  nature,  that  alone  can  fit  her  for  the  great 
drama  of  life.  Her  education  should  not  be  for  mere  em- 
belishment  and  empty  show,  but  for  practical  use  in  the 
great  work  of  life  — to  give  her  a clear  conception  of  our 
moral  nature  and  the  works  of  Providence.  A too  free  use 
of  light  literature,  fiction  and  poetry,  I would  not  encour- 
age. Moral  philosophy,  geology,  botany,  chemistry,  as- 
tronomy, and  history,  are  studies  best  calculated  to  im- 
press the  mind  with  great  practical  truths,  and  elevate 
our  aims  above  the  sensualities  of  this  life. 

Education,  in  its  true  sense ! who  can  measure  the  mag- 
nitude of  the  work  ! What  a blank  this  world  would  be 
without  it ! How  far  man  would  sink  below  even  his  pre- 
sent lamentable  condition ! Deprived  of  it,  he  could  rise 
but  little  above  the  animal  creation.  What  a moment- 
ous work  it  presents  ! In  the  youthful  mind  is  found  a 
small  intellectual  spark  — the  elementary  principles  of  an 
education,  when  applied  to  this  are  like  light  fuel  to  the 
weak  embers.  They  serve  to  kindle  and  to  strengthen  it. 
To  load  this  weak  faculty  at  once  with  the  heavy  material 


16 


PENNSYLVANIA 


of  mathematics,  would  be  to  smother  it  — it  could  not  start 
under  such  a weight.  The  mind  must  be  drawn  forth  by 
degrees,  and  he  is  a skillful  master,  who  fully  compre- 
hends this  science.  The  mind  gradually  expands  until 
it  discovers  and  subdues  the  most  obstruse  problems.  The 
whole  works  of  God  and  nature  is  opened  up  before  it,  as 
one  vast  rich  field  for  contemplation.  He  who  can  so  far 
dwell  on  these  things,  as  to  make  them  his  principal 
source  of  happiness,  so  as  thereby  to  quench  the  sensuali- 
ties of  the  animal  nature,  has  achieved  the  great  triumph. 
He  is  on  the  way  to  intellectual  eminence,  and  to  the 
highest  realities  of  earthly  bliss.  The  examination  of  the 
already  admitted  de velopements  of  science,  in  reference  to 
the  material  universe,  the  astronomy  of  the  Heavens,  the 
revelations  of  history  and  the  pursuit  of  other  discoveries, 
are  studies  calculated  to  awaken  to  the  highest  sensations 
of  delight  in  the  truly  refined  and  Christian  heart.  To 
think  of  a science  that  counts  the  motions  of  Heavenly 
bodies  and  foretells  the  coming  eclipse  of  the  sun  for  cen- 
turies in  advance — that  measures  the  almost  boundless 
Heavens.  Of  another  that  navigates  the  trackless  Ocean 
by  pointing  from  pole  to  pole.  Of  the  Physical  Sciences 
and  Mechanic  Arts  which  in  our  day  have  usurped  the 
places  of  the  laborer  and  mechanic.  Of  the  operations 
of  steam  which  are  rapidly  revolutionizing  the  commer- 
cial and  social  relations  of  the  world — of  the  Magnetic 
Telegraph  which  has  brought  the  people  of  each  hemis- 
phere of  the  globe  into  close  communion.  All  these  things 
are  types  and  shadows  of  the  wonderful  works  which  man’s 
intellect  is  to  accomplish  under  the  guidance  of  Heaven 
Education  must  be  at  the  bottom  of  all  these  triumphs  of 
the  mind.  The  intellect  must  be  first  drawn  forth  in  its 


FEMALE  COLLEGE. 


17 


weakness,  and  cultivated  and  matured.  To  apply  the 
divine  idea  of  Solomon,  to  this  process,  the  “ end  is  better 
than  the  beginning.”  We  must  first  have  the  bud  and 

O O 

the  blossom,  and  then  the  full  grown  fruit. 


INAUGURAL  ADDRESS  OF  THE  PRINCIPAL, 

BEVERLY  R.  WAUGH. 


Ladies  and  Gentlemen: — 

It  is  not  at  all  unlikely,  such  is  the  diversity  in  the 
constitution  of  the  human  mind,  that,  on  this  and  similar 
occasions,  the  mysogynist,  with  captiousness  and  sneering, 
may  cry  in  derision,  a “ Female  College  !”  Humbug ! We 
want  no  Colleges  for  our  Women  ! Cui  Bono?  Why  will 
not  Female  Common  Schools  answer  just  as  well?  may 
demand  the  practical  utilitarian,  whose  sole  idea  of  an 
Education  seems  to  be  concentrated  in  the  power  of  his 
son,  whose  one  desire  is,  “that  he  should  be  able  to  turn 
the  nimble  sixpence ,”  and  make  for  himself  wealth,  rather 
than  possess  general  intelligence.  Prosperity  and  success 
attend  your  enterprise  and  efforts,  are  the  generous  burst- 
ings forth  of  the  heart’s  desire  of  every  true  and  devoted 
lover  of  mankind,  who  sees,  in  the  proper  Education  of 
the  Female,  the  outline  of  that  lever  which  is  to  move  the 
moral  world. 

I am  sure  that  the  one  desire  of  this  large  and  highly 


18 


PENNSYLVANIA 


intelligent  audience,  is  to  have  an  Institution,  in  their 
midst,  in  which  they  can  educate  their  Daughters,  n<tt 
that  they  may  be  able  to  stand  in  the  battle  and  strife  of 
life,  (the  position  of  woman  is  not  in  the  front  — not  amid 
the  struggles  of  life’s  engagement,  to  do  battle  — her’s  is 
the  work  and  office  of  soothing,  consoling,  and  encourag- 
ing,) not  that  they  might  occupy  our  Legislative  Halls,  or 
iill  either  offices  of  the  Executive  or  Judiciary  departments 
of  our  government,  but  that  they  may  make  their  impres- 
sion where  it  is  most  likely  to  be  felt,  upon  the  home 
circle — society  around.  There  is  a diffusiveness  in  the 
principles  of  correct  Education,  right  views  of  the  charac- 
ter of  our  Government,  and  the  importance  of  rectitude 
and  consistency  of  conduct,  which  is  most  appropriately 
compared  to  the  “ leaven  hid  in  the  measures  of  meal.” 
Its  effects  are  seen,  most  manifestly,  in  the  family  circle, 
and  radiating  from  it,  there  is  observed,  as  that  which  is 
a natural  consequent,  much  of  good  accomplished,  far 
away,  as  well  as  near  at  hand.  Its  diffusive  property  is 
seen,  moreover,  in  the  the  rapid  and  continued  increase  of 
Female  Colleges  and  other  Institutions  of  high  grade 
throughout  our  country.  The  time  has  been,  not  one  of 
more  than  a “Van  Winkle”  slumber,  when  Colleges  for 
Females  were  not  thought  of,  nay,  not  even  dreamed  of 
in  fancies  wildest  flight.  But  now  we  find  that  in  almost 
every  portion  of  the  United  States,  there  are  in  existence 
flourishing  Institutions  for  developing  the  intellectual 
powers  of  the  Female  mind. 

Too  long  has  it  been,  as  was  said  by  Addison,  in  a 
number  of  the  Spectator,  that  “the  general  mistake,  among 
“ us  in  the  Education  of  our  children,  is  that  in  our  daugh- 
“ ters  we  take  care  of  their  persons,  and  neglect  their  minds  . 
“ in  our  sons,  we  are  so  intent  upon  adorning  their  minds 


FEMALE  COLLEGE. 


19 


“ that  we  wholly  neglect  their  bodies — though  the  above 
remark  was  made  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,  it  has  not 
ceased,  though  last  ceasing,  to  be  applicable  in  the  present 
day.  With  the  most  elementary  branches  of  Learning- 
lias  the  parent  been  satisfied,  with  respect  to  his  Daughter, 
whilst  upon  the  Son  large  sums  have  been  lavished,  that 
he  might  be  possessed  of  an  Education  of  the  most  com- 
prehensive character.  But  from  this  Van  Winkle  slum- 
ber we  are  rapidly  awakening,  and  being  conscious  of 
duty  and  of  right,  we  see  it  to  be  necessary — vitally 
necessary  — to  educate,  in  the  full  sense  of  that  term,  our 
Daughters. 

The  careful  observer  of  the  history  of  our  country, 
looking  upon  it  in  a more  than  superficial  manner,  will 
remark  with  interest,  pleasure  and  profit,  the  consequen- 
ces, or  rather  the  results  direct,  of  the  conservative  and 
preservative  power  of  correct  Education. 

In  manners,  in  morals,  in  the  great  diffusion  of  intelli- 
gence, in  the  comparatively  equal  distribution  of  wealth 
throughout  society,  and  the  facility  with  which  the  com- 
forts of  life,  and  many  of  the  luxuries  are  obtained  by 
almost  all,  we  are  far  ahead  of  all  past  time,  and  every 
other  nation.  Science,  Literature,  and  Religion,  giving- 
rise  to,  and  cherishing  a spirit  of  freedom,  and  restraining 
immoderation,  have  made  us  a peculiar  nation,  having  no 
parallel,  or  even  an  approximating  parallel  on  the  earth. 
We  stand  alone,  a beacon  light  to  guide  the  noble  and 
the  free:  a model  after  which  to  construct  new  em- 
pires, when  the  spirit  of  liberty,  now  slowly,  yet  per- 
ceptibly working  among  the  tyrannies  of  Europe,  shall 
have  prostrated  them  in  the  dust.  And  our  course  as  a 
nation  is  onward  — still  onward.  “ Excelsior”  is  our 

motto ! It  is  true,  we  sometimes  fancy  we  see  in  the  dim 


20 


PENNSYLVANIA 


distance,  and  at  times,  near  at  hand,  shoals  and  quick- 
sands. Sometimes  it  seems  sure  that  in  avoiding  Scytta 
we  rush  to  destruction  on  Charybdis.  We  fear  that  our 
gallant  hark  of  State,  which  has  thus  far  so  nobly  and 
safely  steered  on  the  ocean  of  events,  should  founder  or 
be  wrecked.  Yet  we  look  back,  and  see  dangers  equally 
as  great,  which  have  been  passed,  and  we  have  confidence 
still,  that  the  land  which  has  been  the  Cradle  of  Liberty, 
will  continue  its  chosen  dwelling  place,  until  the  end  of 
time.  We  believe  that  our  nation  has,  in  the  ways  of 
Providence,  a high  destiny  marked  out  for  it  in  the  future. 
Hence  we  feel  no  little  solicitude  to  do  our  part  — that 
which  we  alone  can  do,  for  in  this  “there  is  work  for  every 
man  to  do,”  in  order  to  accomplish  this  high  destiny. 
But  let  us  trace  a single  thread  in  the  history  of  the 
operativeness  of  Woman’s  influence — emanating  from  an 
instructive  and  cherishing  heart,  and  accomplishing  grand 
results.  Precept  was  then  accompanied  with  example,  the 
practical  result  by  us  is  now  enjoyed. 

This  hidden  influence — this  conservative  power  has 
been  one  of  the  secret  springs  whereby  our  country 
has  been  brought  forward  to  its  present  position. — 
Though  silent  in  its  operation  it  possesses  an  untold 
energy.  In  imagination  I see  a little  band  of  devout 
worshippers  ill  England’s  sea  girt  Isle.  Fain  would  they 
worship  their  Maker  freed  from  external  restraints — in 
that  manner,  in  which,  taking  his  word  as  their  guide, 
they  believed  He  wished  to  be  worshipped.  But  this  boon 
was  not  permitted  them.  A proud  and  haughty  hierar- 
chy demanded  entire  conformity  to  the  canons  which  they 
saw  proper  to  impose . These  affected  matters  of  conscience . 
The  Father  of  a family  saw  that  the  Prelates  assumed 
a position  which  interfered  with  his  duty  to  his  God. 


FEMALE  COLLEGE. 


21 


The  Mother  too  felt,  even  more  keenly,  her  wrong  in 
being  forbidden  to  meet  with  the  people  of  her  choice, 
and  listen  to  the  man  of  God  of  her  own  choosing,  as 
the  words  of  heavenly  instruction  fell,  with  burning  en- 
ergy, from  his  lips.  Must  not  the  little  ones,  when  on 
the  Lord’s  day  morning,  they  saw  the  tear  start  in  the 
Mother’s  eye,  because  her  beloved  Pastor  was  torn  by 
rude  hands  from  his  place,  and  thrown  into  prison,  who, 
for  so  long  a time,  had  led  them,  as  a Shepherd  leadeth 
his  flock,  in  green  pastures,  and  beside  still  waters.  Must 
they  not,  when  they  inquired  the  cause,  and  learned  that 
the  haughty  ecclesiastical  rulers  had  forbidden  them  to  go 
to  their  accustomed  place  of  worship,  have  felt,  against 
these  tyrants  over  men’s  consciences  an  irrepressible  dis- 
like ? Was  not  a spark  of  liberty  then  enkindled,  which, 
a long  voyage  across  the  boisterous  ocean,  and  years  of 
toil  and  indescribable  sufferings  on  the  bleak  and  barren 
shores  of  New  England,  were  not  sufficient  to  extinguish: 
and  did  not  the  recollection  of  those  scenes  of  suffering, 
and  those  maternal  teachings  serve  in  after  years  to  fan 
the  sacred  flame,  if  at  any  time  it  began  to  flicker? 
Who  cherished  this  thirst  for  liberty, — this  hatred  of  civil 
as  well  as  spiritual  tyranny,  in  the  young  hearts  of  those 
who  formed  the  second  generation  of  New  England  ? It 
may  at  first  have  been  excited  in  many  a bosom  by  a 
Mother’s  tear  and  a Mother’s  sigh,  together  with  a 
Mother’s  teachings,  when  having  called  her  children 
around  her,  she  detailed  to  them  the  cause  — a cruel  pro- 
hibition on  the  part  of  spiritual  rulers.  And  the  same 
fireside  teaching  in  which  the  Mother  was  more  frequent- 
ly the  instructress,  prepared 

“ An  arm,  which  nerved  with  thundering  fate 

Braved  usurpations  boldest  daring.” 


PENNSYLVANIA 


22 

The  first  Mothers  of  New  England  were  educated  as 
well  as  pious,  or  rather  their  Education  was  of  that  com- 
prehensive kind  which  includes  the  training  of  the  heart 
as  well  as  the  intellect.  They  were  emphatically  their 
childrens  teachers.  At  the  breast  they  inhaled  the  Spirit 
of  Freedom — in  the  fireside  conversation  this  spirit  was 
warmed  and  cherished.  Hence,  when  the  proud  oppressor 
frowned,  they  started  not  back  in  dismay,  but  bade  him 
do  his  worst — “We  stand  prepared.” 

We  see  thus  beautifully  and  interestingly  portrayed  the 
Female’s  influence,  in  inspiring  and  fostering  feelings, 
which  had  much  to  do  with  securing  the  priceless  boon 
of  freedom  which  we  now  possess.  Has  Woman  less  to 
do  now  in  sustaining  the  priceless  bequest  of  our  Fathers  ? 
He  who  thinks  she  has,  greatly  underrates  her  influence — 
and  has  studied  with  no  advantage  the  pages  of  practical 
illustration  which  are  afforded  in  the  study  of  Human 
Nature.  We  feel  no  little  solicitude  on  this  point.  We 
know  what  Female  influence  has  done — we  know  what 
it  can  do.  With  a mind  that  has  been  subjected  to  a pro- 
per, moral  and  intellectual  training,  the  Female  becomes 
the  dispenser  of  those  principles,  upon  the  continuance  of 
which  the  salvation  of  our  country  is  based  — without  this 
training  much  of  her  power  is  lost.  With  a wrong  train- 
ing, it  is  not  only  lost,  but  a power  for  evil  takes  its  place. 

We  might  bring  to  your  minds  the  important  part  that 
the  Educated  Female  has  to  perform,  and  really  does  ac- 
complish, in  the  moral  renovation  of  the  world.  But 
already  have  I occupied  more  time  than  I allowed  myself. 
The  noble  — praise- worthy  deeds  of  Woman,  self-sacrific- 
ing and  heroic,  “ are  known  and  read  of  Ml  men/’ 

To  add  their  portion  to  the  accomplishment  of  great 
and  glorious  achievements  — to  hasten  on  the  coming  of 


FEMALE  COLLEGE. 


23 


the  millennial  day,  a season  of  pure  knowledge,  the  trustees 
do  this  day  commence  the  scholastic  operations  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Female  College.  May  all  their  most  san- 
guine expectations  and  wishes  be  realized. 

Our  position,  as  Principal  of  the  Pennsylvania  Female 
College,  is  one  of  responsibility  and  onerousness.  And  did  I 
not  feel  assured  of  the  counsel,  support  and  aid  of  the  Board 
of  Trustees  I should  feel  myself  incompetent  to  the  task, 
and  shrink  from  the  responsibility.  But  of  their  counsel, 
support  and  aid  1 am  made  certain,  from  the  deep  interest 
and  concern  which  they  have  hitherto  manifested,  and  still 
do  manifest,  in  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  the  College. 

We  consider  ourselves  not  merely  in  the  business  of  in- 
struction, but  that  of  Education.  For  the  purpose  of  ob- 
taining this,  we  judge  that  our  pupils  are  entrusted  to  our 
care  : and  upon  their  Education  we  will  try  to  have  their 
minds  fixed,  and  their  energies  employed.  Every  hour 
will  have  its  appropriate  arrangements  of  devotion,  exer- 
cise, study,  recreation,  refreshment  and  rest. 

And  while  on  the  one  hand  we  deprecate  the  employment 
of  pantographic  systems,  except  in  the  instruction  of  deaf 
mutes,  in  which  the  eye  alone  is  employed,  and  at  the 
same  time,  decry  the  delusive,  though  popular  notion  of 
a royal  road  to  learning,  which  in  this  fast  age  would 
hurry  us  along  over  courses  of  Morals  and  Philosophy  — 
the  Sciences  and  Literature,  with  telegraphic  speed,  and 
cram  our  brains  with  “ ologies ” almost  too  numerous  too 
mention;  we  nevertheless,  in  leading  out  the  powers  of 
the  mind,  shall  employ  all  those  appliances  which  experi- 
ence has  demonstrated  to  be  of  service,  in  producing  com- 
prehensiveness and  quickness  of  mental  effort. 

In  scholastic  discipline,  as  well  as  in  every  other  de- 
partment of  toil,  it  is  true,  that  to  patient  effort  the  prize 


24 


PENNSYLVANIA 


is  sure,  so  that  those  who  may  in  the  course  of  events, 
become  connected  or  associated  with  us  in  a more  inter- 
esting relation,  we  hope  that  they  will  ever,  in  their 
course,  bear  in  mind  “ Nulla  Excellentia,  Sine  Lahore 

But  we  conceive  that  Education  does  not  consist  only  in 
acquiring  knowledge,  or  unfolding  the  reasoning  faculties, 
or  in  cultivating  the  moral  feelings,  or  in  developing  the 
physical  powers,  or  in  forming  the  manners  and  habits 
alone,  but  in  the  pursuit  of  all  these  objects  combined. 
Especially  do  we  conceive  Our  Pupils  as  being  accountable 
creatures,  preparing  for  immortality.  We  believe  that  in- 
tellectual culture  cannot  take  precedence  of  moral,  without 
hazarding  the  highest  improvement  of  which  the  human 
mind  is  capable,  and  sacrificing  the  best  interests  of  man. 

It  shall  lie  our  aim  and  object,  in  conducting  the  exer- 
cises of  the  College,  to  have  always  a correct  state  of 
moral  feeling  assiduously  cultivated.  The  Word  of  God 
will  be  studied  more  or  less  every  day,  and  while  reason 
and  reflection  are  principally  operated  upon,  as  inducing 
to  right  sentiments  and  actions,  this  will  ever  be  appealed 
to  as  the  Infallible  Oracle  of  Truth,  and  Sovereign  Director 
of  our  conduct. 

With  an  efficient  faculty  of  Professors  and  Teachers, 
and  moreover  with  conveniences  and  comforts  in  the 
domestic  department,  we  hope  that  many  of  Pennsylva- 
nia’s fairest  Daughters  will  have  occasion  to  feel  proud  of 
their  Alma,  Mater ; they  declaring  her,  in  coming  time,  to 
be  blessed: — -May  the  Pennsylvania  Female  College  ever 
prove  a fostering  Mother  to  those  committed  to  its  charge. 
“May  all  her  Daughters  be  as  corner  stones  polished  after 
“ the  similitude  of  a palace,  until  they  are  built  as  lively 
“ stones  in  that  temple  not  made  with  hands,  Eternal  in  the 
“ Heavens.” 


FEMALE  COLLEGE. 


ADDRESS  OF  PROFESSOR  0.  H.  TIFFANY. 


Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : — 

The  great  objects  proposed  in  the  plan  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Female  College,  have  been  so  ably  presented  by  His 
Excellency  the  Governor,  and  also  by  the  Principal  of  the 
College,  that  a brief  allusion  to  them  on  my  part,  will 
suffice. 

Our  object  is  to  prepare  pupils  for  the  duties  of  life — ■ 
not  so  much  to  make  them  learned,  as  to  supply  the  mate- 
rial and  afford  the  impetus  for  self-instruction.  The  true 
idea  of  education  is  the  discipline  and  developement  of  the 
mind,  not  the  mere  preparation  of  the  individual  for  a par- 
ticular station  or  special  duties.  And  the  design  of  the 
officers  of  this  establishment  is  to  train  the  understanding 
of  their  pupils,  so  that  they  may  be  able  to  survey  the 
field  of  knowledge  for  themselves,  to  comprehend  them 
own  capabilities,  and  keep  them  in  healthy  exercise. 

Were  this  an  institution  for  the  education  of  young  men, 
the  propriety  of  this  position  would  be  admitted  without 
argument,  but  the  generality  of  men,  though  awaking, 
are  not  yet  wholly  alive  to  the  importance  of  thus  educa- 
ting females.  The  idea  is  still  too  prevalent,  that  a super- 
ficial acquaintance  with  some  branches  of  knowledge,  is 
all  that  woman  requires,  if  she  add  to  this  the  gloss  and 
tinsel  of  so-called  accomplishments.  Men  who  think  thus, 
will  speak  of  a radical  difference  in  the  sexes,  and  of  the 
different  spheres  and  positions  they  occupy,  and  because  the 

D 


26 


PENNSYLVANIA 


idea  of  education  I have  given  is  deemed  best  for  the  one 
sex,  they  pronounce  at  once  its  want  of  adaptation  to  the 
other.  To  meet  such  objectors,  I take  the  position,  that 
as  an  intelligent  being,  woman  is  not  different  from  man. 
She  has  the  same  faculties,  understanding,  conscience  and 
will ; admit,  if  you  please,  that  she  has  them  in  less 
degree ; she  still  possesses  them,  and  the  fact  of  possession 
is  the  ground  at  once,  both  of  the  reason  and  the  duty  of 
exercising  them.  Why  then  should  her  reason  be  left 
without  nurture  or  scantily  provided  with  it — her  con- 
science without  light- — her  will  without  laws  ? Will  not 
the  admission  of  these  points  involve  the  necessity  of  de- 
priving a large  majority  of  the  other  sex  of  these  advan- 
tages ? For  surely,  the  mere  fact  of  being  a man  does 
not,  of  necessity,  imply  the  possession  of  greater  powers  of 
conscience,  reason  and  will,  than  exist  in  woman.  We 
know,  too,  that  the  distinction  of  sex  is  only  recognized 
in  this  world,  but  education  has  reference  to  both  worlds  ; 
and  we  do  not  believe  that  God  has  imposed  a permanent 
and  degrading  inferiority  on  the  immortal  essence  of  being, 
merely  on  account  of  a temporary  physical  organization. 

It  is  a truth  of  the  deepest  import,  and  involving  for 
woman  and  for  the  educators  of  women,  the  greatest  re- 
sponsibility— that  before  and  after  being  maiden,  wife  or 
mother,  a girl  is  a human  being,  and  as  Richter  says : — 
“ Neither  motherly  nor  wifely  destination  can  overbalance 
or  substitute  the  human,  but  must  become  its  means  and 
not  its  end.  As  the  artist  while  forming  his  work,  does, 
at  the  same  time  form  something  higher,  himself — as  above 
the  poet,  the  painter,  the  hero,  the  human  being  rises  pre- 
eminent— so,  in  every  walk  of  life,  the  woman,  whether 
fitting  herself  for  society,  or  adorning  herself  to  gratify 
her  own  eyes  or  those  of  others,  or  discharging  the  duties 


FEMALE  COLLEGE. 


of  home  and  household,  of  wife  and  mother — still  bears 
with  her  an  endowed  human  intellect,  and  is  still  fash- 
ioning for  herself  an  immortal  destiny.” 

The  sphere  of  action  to  which  her  constitution  adapts 
her,  necessarily  occasions  a distinction  in  the  character  of 
her  intellectual  growth,  but  to  justify  the  idea  of  denying 
her  an  education,  the  absence  of  all  developement  must 
be  established.  The  mountaineer  differs  no  less  in  mental 
characteristics  than  in  physical  from  the  inhabitant  of  the 
plain ; and  we  should  naturally  expect  those  whose  duties 
call  them  to  act  in  the  bold  scenes  of  history,  amid  the 
difficulties  of  the  rugged  world,  to  differ  from  those  whose 
peaceful  vocations  and  domestic  cares  confine  them  more 
to  the  quiet  scenes  of  loveliness  and  home; 

But  let  us  inquire  into  the  advantages  to  be  gained  by 
a more  liberal  policy  than  has  heretofore  been  pursued, 
and  search  for  the  reasons  that  justify  the  establishment  of 
institutions  like  this. 

I.  An  enlarged  and  liberal  Education  will  develope  the 
true  sphere  of  the  sex.  — Objectors  to  the  liberal  education 
of  women,  are  apt  to  refer  to  examples,  which,  while  they 
prove  the  natural  endowment  and  great  power  of  the 
female  mind,  have,  nevertheless,  from  the  periods  at  which 
they  have  appeared,  and  the  circumstances  by  which  they 
were  surrounded,  manifested  what  they  term  masculine 
power,  and  the  conclusion  is  drawn,  that  education  would 
unsex  woman  and  unfit  her  for  her  sphere.  But  the  objec- 
tors forget  that  these  are  unusual  cases,  the  result  of  a 
forced  growth  under  adverse  circumstances,  and  that  the 
tendency  of  a generally  diffused  education  by  elevating 
the  whole  sex,  will  be  to  lessen  the  number  of  exceptions, 
already  small.  But  even  if  the  point  should  be  admitted, 
it  surely  affords  no  pretext  for  the  present  low  state  of 


28 


PENNSYLVANIA 


female  education.  As  Sydney  Smith  has  well  said  “if 
there  be  any  good  at  all  in  female  ignorance,  it  is  surely 
too  much  of  a good  thing  that  a woman  of  thirty  should 
be  more  ignorant  than  a boy  of  thirteen.” 

I am  no  advocate  for  a system  which  can  have  even 
the  slightest  tendency  to  withdraw  woman  from  the  position 
Providence  has  assigned  her.  I believe  it  worthy  of  her 
highest  powers.  An  educated  English  woman  has  well 
expressed  my  views  upon  this  point,  and  the  sex  of  the 
writer,  relieving  the  subject  from  any  imputation  my  own 
language  might  occasion,  is  my  apology  for  the  length  of 
the  quotation. 

“Man,”  says  Mrs.  Ellis,  “is  appointed  to  hold  the  reins 
of  government — to  make  laws — to  support  systems — to 
penetrate  with  patient  labor  and  undeviating  perseverance 
into  the  mysteries  of  science,  and  to  work  out  the  great 
fundamental  principles  of  truth.  For  such  purposes  he 
would  be  ill-qualified  were  he  diverted  from  his  object  by 
the  quickness  of  his  perception  of  external  things,  by  the 
ungovernable  impulse  of  his  own  feelings  or  by  the  claims 
of  others  upon  his  regard  or  sensibility;  but  woman’s 
sphere  being  one  of  feeling  rather  than  of  intellect,  all 
her  peculiar  characteristics  are  such  as  essentially  qualify 
her  for  that  station  in  society  she  is  designed  to  fill  and 
which  she  never  voluntarily  quits  without  a sacrifice  of 
good  taste, — I might  almost  say  of  good  principle.  Weak 
indeed  is  the  reasoning  of  those  who  would  render  her 
dissatisfied  with  this  allotment,  by  persuading  her  that  the 
station  which  it  ought  to  be  her  pride  to  ornament  is  one 
too  insignificant  or  degraded  for  the  full  exercise  of  her 
mental  powers.  Can  that  be  an  unimportant  vocation  to 
which  peculiarly  belong  the  means  of  happiness  and 
misery?  Can  that  be  a degraded  sphere  which  not  only 


FEMALE  COLLEGE. 


29 


admits  of,  but  requires  the  full  developement  of  moral 
feeling?  Is  it  a task  too  trifling  for  an  intellectual  wo- 
man to  watch  and  guard  and  stimulate  the  growth  of 
reason  in  the  infant  mind?  Is  it  a sacrifice  too  small  to 
practice  the  art  of  adaptation  to  all  the  different  characters 
met  with  in  ordinary  life,  so  as  to  influence  and  give  a 
right  direction  to  their  tastes  and  pursuits?  Is  it  a duty 
too  easy,  faithfully  and  constantly  to  hold  up  an  example 
of  self-government,  disinterestedness,  and  zeal  for  that 
which  constitutes  our  highest  good — to  be  nothing  or  any 
thing  that  is  not  sinful  as  the  necessities  of  others  may 
require — to  wait  with  patience — to  endure  with  fortitude 
— to  attract  by  gentleness — to  sooth  by  sympathy  judi- 
ciously applied — to  be  quick  iu  understanding,  prompt  in 
action,  and  what  is  perhaps  more  difficult  than  all,  firm, 
yet  pliable  in  will,  — lastly,  through  a life  of  perplexity, 
trial,  and  temptation,  to  maintain  the  calm  dignity  of  a 
pure  and  elevated  character,  earthly  in  nothing  but  its 
suffering  and  weakness,  refined  almost  to  sublimity  in  the 
seraphic  ardor  of  its  love,  its  faith,  and  its  devotion.” 
Thus  writes  a sensible  woman  from  the  other  side  of 
the  Atlantic,  and  yet,  in  the  growing  fancy  of  our  own 
progressive  land,  it  has  become  common  to  prate  of  Wo- 
mens’ Hights.  The  very  men  and  women  whose  grand- 
mothers were  perversely  ignorant,  and  stupidly  foolish  in 
their  opposition  to  female  education,  have  become  the 
great  advocates  of  the  sex,  profess  a desire  to  see  them 
exalted  to  an  equal  participation  in  all  the  privileges  and 
duties  now  enjoyed  and  discharged  by  men,  and  with 
scarcely  less  absurdity  than  their  ancestors  would  embroil 
women  in  politics,  and  subject  them  to  the 'merciless  war 
of  contention  and  dispute.  Such  persons  have  no  true 
regard  for  women’s  interests,  and  those  misguided  females 


30 


PENNSYLVANIA 


who  join  in  their  clamor  know  not  what  they  ask.  Start- 
ing from  the  fact,  that  under  present  circumstances  woman 
is  too  circumscribed  in  her  opportunities  of  education, 
they  overleap  the  true  remedy  and  propose  a social  disor- 
ganization as  the  only  resource.  They  never  think  that 
to  bring  woman  from  the  hallowed  precincts  of  domestic 
life  would  be  equivalent  to  tearing  down  all  the  venera- 
tion and  high  regard  which  lias  ever  been  a protection  to 
her  retiring  modesty.  If  it  be  true,  that  we  all  have  a 
higher  regard  for  the  other  sex  than  we  have  for  our  own ; 
that  men  seek  and  prize  in  woman  what  they  lack  them- 
selves, and  women,  in  turn,  admire  those  qualities  in  which 
men  excel ; if  we  seek  the  society  of  women  and  enjoy 
it  the  more,  because  they  are  not  burdened  with  the  ordi- 
nary cares  and  duties  of  our  own  sex; — if  we  feel  re- 
freshed by  their  presence,  and  invigorated  by  their  purity, 
and  this  influence  arises  from  their  freedom  from  the  dust 
with  which  our  own  garments  are  soiled — their  seclusion 
from  the  turmoil  and  confusion  of  the  battle-field  of  life; 
how  can  we  hope  to  continue  and  cultivate  this  interchange 
of  proper  admiration  if  women  £11  the  stations  and  pur- 
sue the  vocations  of  men,  and  men  are  made  to  lose  the 
deferential  regard  they  now  willingly  pay  to  woman  in 
the  scramble  for  office,  the  competition  for  advancement, 
and  the  routine  of  business  engagements?  What  man  would 
seek  a wife  among  the  “politicians”  of  a bar-room  or  the 
wranglers  at  the  polls  ? Who  would  take  as  a companion 
for  life  a female  jockey  ? How  soon  would  the  adoption 
of  the  platform  of  Woman's  Rights  be  felt  to  lie  the  erec- 
tion of  the  scaffold  for  the  infliction  of  Woman's  Wrongs  ! 
How  soon  would  the  usages  of  society  be  subverted  and 
the  sexes  change  vocations?  Mr.  A.  must  then  content 
himself  at  home  with  a dish  of  scandal  and  a cup  of  tea, 


FEMALE  COLLEGE. 


31 


while  his  wife  attends  the  ward  or  district  meeting.  Mr. 
B.  may  hold  the  delighted  children  at  the  open  window 
to  watch  mamma,  as  armed  cap-a-pie  she  spurs  her  charger 
and  brandishes  the  sword  for  which  she  has  laid  aside  the 
knitting  needle.  Mrs.  C.  may  deal  in  stocks,  but  Mr.  C. 
must  darn  the  stockings!  Gentlemen  may  then  remain 
at  home  to  receive  the  calls  of  their  fair  friends,  and  if 
over-pressed  for  an  answer  to  an  earnest  question,  flirt 
their  delicate  fans  with  jewelled  fingers,  and  hiding  their 
confusion  beneath  scented  cambric,  refer  the  fair  suitor  to 
Mamma. 

These  may  be  regarded  as  the  extreme  points  towards 
which  the  fanaticism  of  modern  reformers  is  tending.  So 
far  as  females  are  engaged  in  it,  and  they  form  but  a small 
minority  of  the  ultra  socialists,  it  exhibits  the  result  of 
imperfect  and  misguided  training,  and  manifests  the  ex- 
istence of  an  urgent  necessity  for  enlarged  and  liberal 
educational  advantages.  To  oppose  these  tendencies  by 
argument  is  useless;  the  excitement  in  which  they  origi- 
nate will  not  admit  of  calm  discussion,  and  any  one  who 
should  hazard  an  objection  would  immediately  be  classed 
with  those  who  fear  the  loss  of  prerogatives.  How  silently 
and  insidiously  such  sentiments  effect  a lodgement  in  a 
discontented  or  disappointed  mind ; the  natural  and  neces- 
sary result  of  ignorance,  or  carelessness,  or  pride,  is  attri- 
buted to  an  imperfection  in  the  organization  of  society, 
and  forthwith  the  mortified  girl  becomes  a “ strong  minded 
American  woman”  — shortens  her  skirts  and  attends  pub- 
lic meetings  at  the  “Tabernacle.” 

The  only  considerable  good  that  can  result  from  “Wo- 
men’s Rights  Conventions”  would  be  the  recognition  of 
the  value  of  labor  as  such,  and  the  overthrow  of  the 
absurd  notion,  that  the  same  work  done  by  females  is  not 


PENNSYLVANIA 


worth  as  much  as  if  done  by  men.  The  results  of  labor 
and  not  the  sex  of  the  laborer  form  a just  element  in  the 
determination  of  value.  But  this  will  lie  lost  sight  of  in 
the  conflict  of  angry  emotions,  the  bitterness  of  disap- 
pointed ambition,  and  the  clamor  for  extended  privilege. 
The  cpxiet  influence  of  educated  women  and  the  just 
thoughts  of  true  men  will  silently  and  speedily  accomplish 
all  this  more  surely  than  the  ranting  transcendentalism  of 
the  socialists,  or  the  indelicate  pretensions  of  female  poli- 
ticians. 

II.  Correct  Education  will  prepare  W oman  properly  to 
adorn  her  true  position,  and  to  discharge  the  duties  imposed 
by  her  constitution. — The  influence  of  W oman  in  the  for- 
mation of  character  is  not  confined  to  the  period  in  which 
she  may  discharge  the  duties  of  Mother  or  Governess,  but 
is  felt  in  the  associations  of  infancy  and  childhood. 

The  relations  of  children  to  each  other  are  close  and 
intimate.  The  sister,  who  is  competent  to  do  so,  may 
wield  an  important  influence  in  the  formation  of  a brother’s 
habits  and  character.  If  she  receives  such  an  education 
as  entitles  her  to  Iris  respect,  he  will  often  willingly  follow 
her  suggestions  when  the  same  advice  from  Parent  or 
Guardian  would  arouse  and  irritate  his  proud  self-will, 
because  overshadowed  with  the  consciousness  of  authority. 

But  true  education  will  not  only  enable  a sister  to  soften 
the  manners  and  improve  the  morals  of  her  brother,  it 
would  afford  also  a stimulus  to  his  intellect.  The  natural 
quickness,  which  distinguishes  the  sex,  facilitates  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge,  and  to  keep  pace  with  a sister 
would  require  exertion  in  most  boys. 

Similarity  of  pursuits  would  draw  the  children  of  a 
family  into  closer  relations  and  not  only  add  to  the  strength 
of  influence  but  prolong  the  period  of  its  duration,  so  that 


FEMALE  COLLEGE. 


33 


the  whole  life  of  a man  might  be  moulded,  controled 
and  modified  by  the  gentle  authority  of  an  educated 
sister. 

The  true  idea  of  education  embraces  the  culture  of  all 
the  powers  of  the  soul,  and,  when  carried  out,  makes  draw- 
ing and  music  ennobling  and  elevating  employments,  in- 
stead of  mere  instruments  of  vanity,  or  means  of  spend- 
ing time  and  wasting  money.  Woman  needs  culture  to 
possess  herself  of  these  ideas  and  realize  their  truth.  The 
day  will  come  when  personal  charms  must  fade,  when 
beauty  will  leave  the  form  and  grace  no  longer  control 
the  actions,  when  the  attentions  these  have  attracted  will 
decline,  when  intellectual  treasures  will  be  the  only  re- 
source. Sad  and  lonely  must  the  woman  be  who  has  no  store 
of  knowledge  upon  which  to  draw.  Dark  is  the  night 
that  sets  in  about  her.  But  the  cultivated  mind  enjoys  a 
long  twilight,  and  the  night  comes  with  stars  and  beauty. 
The  dignity  which  is  the  proper  ornament  of  age,  belongs 
only  to  the  truly  educated.  Intellectual  endowments 
and  cultivation  add  brilliancy  to  the  beauty  of  youth, 
stability  to  riper  years,  and  smooth  the  steps  of  the 
aged  drawing  near  to  the  end  of  lifes  pilgrimage ; they 
kindle  the  torch  of  memory  and  light  up  the  stars  of 
hope. 

The  uninteresting  character  of  common  conversation  is 
attributable  in  a great  degree  to  defective  education.  Our 
ordinary  schools  afford  but  limited  advantages,  and  the 
attractions  of  society  do  not  allow  the  time  to  secure  even 
these.  The  periods  of  social  transition  are  so  rapid  that 
we  not  only  have  no  boys  and  girls,  but  no  schools  for 
them.  There  is  but  one  step  from  the  nursery  to  the 
drawing-room,  and  that  is  the  “ Institute  for  Masters  and 
Misses.” 


34 


PENNSYLVANIA 


The  girl  who  to-day  wears  pin-a-fores,  (aprons  having 
long  since  become  obsolete)  and  cons  her  task,  is  to-mor- 
row the  young  lady  of  fashion,  devoted  to  pleasure  and 
doting  on  sentiment.  In  the  mean  time  she  has  “ come, 
out.”  She  now  takes  her  place  in  society  and  talks  flip- 
pantly to  the  elderly  gentleman,  who  but  yesterday  patted 
her  head  and  gave  her  sugar  plums ; nay,  she  even  fancies 
that  in  conversing  with  her  he  may  have  “ serious  inten- 
tions,” and  concludes  not  to  mortify  him,  by  a positive 
refusal.  Such  characters  are  met.  with  in  every  assembly  ; 
objects  for  the  affected  admiration  of  the  ignorant  and 
vain,  but  moving  the  pity  of  those  who  love  them,  and 
the  disgust  of  the  indifferent.  Sensible  young  men 
whom  their  gaiety  may  attract  for  the  moment,  would 
shudder  at  the  idea  of  their  sisters  becoming  such.  And 
it  is  all  a mistake  for  such  persons  to  suppose,  that  the  at- 
tentions of  gentlemen  are  a mark  of  personal  admiration 
or  respect ; for  these  are  as  often  given  to  the  sex  as  to 
its  representative. 

What  pleasure  can  the  conversation  of  such  an  one 
afford  ? It  can  yield  no  improvement,  suggest  no  thought, 
quicken  no  longing  for  true  greatness,  for  it  is  destitute  of 
common  sense. 

But  this  is  not  the  only  defect  to  be  remedied  There 
are  some  whose  heads  have  been  so  turned  by  that  dan- 
gerous thing — a little  learning — that  their  whole  conver- 
sation labors  under  cumulative  epithets  and  technicalities. 
Such  speak  ever  of  “ developements  of  science,”  ‘■immu- 
table laws,”  “stand  points  of  history,”  “the  me  and  the 
not  me,”  “doctrines  esoteric  and  exoteric,”  “longings  for 
faith,”  “the  eternal  no,”  &c.,  &c.  They  are  devoted  to 
“isms”  and  “ologies.”  They  pronounce  decisively  upon 
works  whose  true  position  and  value  history  is  gradually 


FEMALE  COLLEGE. 


35 

determining,  and  ascertain  and  seal  the  fate  of  the  study 
of  years,  by  a glance  at  a title  page.  They  have  learned 
to  talk  a little  French,  and  a little  German,  but  it  would 
make  a Parisian’s  ears  tingle  and  excite  the  rage  of  the 
country  men  of  Goethe.  They  can  thrum  a little  on  the 
piano,  scream  selections  from  Norma,  draw  a few  hideous 
outlines,  and  mix  red  lines  and  yellow  in  worsted,  but 
they  have  no  education.  How  insipid  and  yet  how  com- 
mon is  such  society,  and  what  wonder  is  it  that  the  usages 
of  civilized  life  distinguish  between  gatherings  of  such  char- 
acters,  and  assemblies  of  the  more  matured  and  culti- 
vated. 

Men  love  to  hear  the  simplest  language  and  the  gravest 
truths  from  women  competent  to  use  the  one  and  compre- 
hend the  other.  The  educated  woman  needs  not  to  parade 
the  course  of  instruction  pursued  at  the  school  she  has  at- 
tended, to  evince  her  cultivation  ; she  need  not  even  indi- 
rectly allude  to  mathematics  or  philosophy  to  convince 
you  of  her  attention  to  them ; but  she  gives  evidence  of 
the  completeness  of  her  education,  by  the  correctness,  ele- 
gance and  readiness  with  which  she  selects  or  pursues  the 
topics  of  conversation.  Old  truths  acquire  a freshness  as 
they  fall  from  her  lips,  a single  suggestion  of  her  bright 
imagining  throws  light  and  beauty  over  the  dullest  theme. 
The  grace  and  elegance  which  belong  naturally  to  the 
sex,  inhere  to  sources  of  thought  and  forms  of  expression, 
and  the  fable  of  the  girl  whose  lips  dropped  pearls  and 
diamonds  was  only  an  exaggeration. 

I have  known  a student  to  think  the  toil  of  hours  am- 
ply repaid,  because  it  enabled  him  to  understand  the  allu- 
sions, relish  the  wit,  and  comprehend  the  philosophic  sim- 
plicity of  a gifted  woman : and  I well  remember  the 
absorbing  interest  with  which  when  a lad  I listened  to 


36 


PENNSYLVANIA 


the  conversation  of  Miss  Martineau,  games  were  laid 
aside  and  all  the  younger  portion  of  the  company  gather- 
ed round  her  as  with  peculiar  grace  and  fascination  she 
participated  in  the  evening  festivities. 

There  is  nothing  so  charming  as  the  conversation  of  a 
well  educated  woman.  “It  is  a perpetual  feast.  Her 
quick  feelings  and  lively  imagination  enable  her  to  paint 
what  she  has  seen  and  experienced  in  livelier  colors  and 
more  glowing  language  than  the  reserve  of  the  other  sex 
make  it  possible  for  them  to  employ.  There  are  lights  and 
shades  in  human  things,  which  would  pass  altogether  un- 
perceived were  they  not  reflected  from  the  clear  pure  mir- 
ror of  the  female  mind.  The  prose  of  this  monotonous  life 
becomes  poetry  in  her  lips,  and  its  dullest  scenes  are  illu- 
minated by  her  fancy  images  and  illustrations  just  as  the 
landscape  sparkles  in  the  dew.” 

Truth  compels  the  declaration  that  much  of  the  unhap- 
piness of  married  life,  arises  from  circumstances  that  might 
be  obviated  by  increasing  the  number  of  educated  women. 
The  man  who  is  devoted  to  letters,  if  he  find  in  his  home 
no  other  incentive  to  exertion  than  the  increasing  wants 
of  his  family,  if  he  receive  from  his  wife  no  sympathy  in 
his  pursuits,  either  seeks  companionship  with  men  of  kin- 
dred thought,  or  buries  himself  in  the  seclusion  of  the  study. 
The  man  of  business  who  can  only  spare  from  active  labor, 
the  hours  of  the  evening  for  intellectual  culture,  if  he  have 
to  spend  them  with  an  uncultivated  woman,  who  finds  in 
books  no  enjoyment,  except  as  they  minister  to  a diseased 
imagination  or  gratify  an  appetite  for  absurd  romance  or 
sickly  sentiment,  naturally  seeks  excitement  in  society. 
The  brother  who  finds  his  sisters  unprepared  to  enter  into 
his  pursuits,  having  no  companionship  at  home  with  his 
restlessness  of  thought,  rejects  their  society  and  resorts  to 


FEMALE  COLLEGE. 


the  lyceum,  or  under  pretence  of  so  doing,  seeks  worse 
society.  Now,  however  beautiful  or  accomplished  such 
wives  or  sisters  may  be,  they  are  in  danger  of  losing  the 
respect  of  husband  or  brothers,  and  with  respect,  goes 
love  attention — everything.  It  is  only  the  educated  wo- 
man who  can  make  home  what  it  ought  to  be,  the  centre 
of  all  affection  and  all  hope,  the  mainspring  of  all  energy 
and  all  enterprise ; she  is  the  genius  under  whose  benign 
protection, 

“ A charm  from  the  skies  seems  to  hallow  as  there, 

Which  seek,  though  we  may,  is  not  met  with  elsewhere,” 

There  is  a limit  to  the  period  when  the  attractions  of  mere 
accomplishment  will  influence,  and  the  duration  of  that 
period  is  shortened  by  the  character  of  the  education. — 
Accomplishments  are  esteemed  too  often  as  externals  to  be 
put  on — instead  of  being  regarded  as  just  branches  of  edu- 
cation to  be  drawn  out  of  the  mind.  And  hence  the  low 
standard  of  taste  that  prevails  to  so  great  an  extent.  If 
the  hand  and  not  the  soul  draws  colours,  or  embroiders, 
the  result  must  be  meager  and  common  place,  and  the  high 
and  elevating  object  of  culture  must  be  unrealized.  If 
the  fingers  touch  the  keys  of  the  musical  instrument  with- 
out awaking  the  harmonies  of  the  soul,  it  is  no  wonder 
that  practice  is  wearisome,  and  the  instrument  unopened 
after  marriage. 

Madame  Campan  when  asked  by  Napoleon  “what  is 
necessary  that  the  youth  of  France  be  well  educated,” 
replied  “ Good  Mothers and  in  this  brief  answer  are  em- 
bodied the  results  of  history  and  experience,  whose  lessons 
always  accord  with  sound  philosophy.  The  necessities  of 
life  place  the  care  of  infancy  in  the  charge  of  the  mother, 
and  the  instincts  of  nature  render  the  duty  joyous.  How 


38 


PENNSYLVANIA 


strong  are  these  instincts.  Love  manifests  itself  in  no 
form  so  pure  and  so  enduring  as  in  the  affection  of  a 
Mother.  It  is  lavished  with  the  same  tenderness  upon 
the  deformed  and  helpless  cripple  as  upon  the  child  of 
grace  and  beauty. 

“ The  only  love,  which  on  this  teeming  earth, 

Asks  no  return  from  Passions  wayward  birth  ; 

The  only  love,  that,  with  a touch  divine, 

Displaces  from  the  heart’s  most  secret  shrine, 

The  idol  self.” 

No  misfortune,  no  degradation  can  eradicate  it.  It  lives 
through  all  things.  A mother  cannot  forget  her  babe, 
though  she  may  live  to  prove, 

“ How  sharper  than  a serpent’s  tooth  it  is, 

To  have  a thankless  child.” 

She  still  yearns  for  its  love,  and  would  win  back  its  affec- 
tion. 

But  the  educated  woman  only  is  capable  of  full}7  ap- 
preciating all  the  demands  that  flow  from  this  divinely 
implanted  feeling ; she  alone  can  rightly  direct  the  ener- 
gies of  the  young  intellect,  and  satisfy  the  longings  of 
the  young  heart. 

Few  joys  may  compare  with  the  delight  it  must  afford 
an  educated  woman  to  impart  instruction  to  her  own  off- 
spring. When  the  expanding  mind  gropes  for  intelligence 
as  the  young  vine  shoots  forth  its  tendrils,  what  gladness 
there  must  be  in  the  heart  of  one  who  is  conscious  of  abilty 
to  direct  the  enquiries  of  the  spirit  around  which  there  still 
linger  the  recollections  of  immortality.  Next  to  the  joy 
of  Heaven  is  the  thought,  that  she  may  guide  the  young 
immortal  and  direct  its  gaze  so  truly,  that  were  death  to 
interrupt  her  labors  its  flight  would  still  be  upward,  and 
its  eye  still  on  the  sun.  And  how  sad  must  that  Mother 


FEMALE  COLLEGE. 


39 


be,  who,  when  her  child  asks  bread,  must  from  ignorance 
or  incompetency  give  it  a stone ; or  if  it  ask  fish,  a serpent ; 
how  that  stone  must  weigh  upon  her  memory  and  that 
serpent  bite  into  her  heart. 

For  the  proper  discharge  of  these  sacred  duties,  the  truly 
educated  mother  will  seek  Divine  aid,  Her  own  experi- 
ence and  reflection  will  teach  her,  that  no  subject  is  so 
important  as  religion — none  so  expanding  in  its  tenden- 
cies— so  ennobling  in  its  influence.  Her  own  life  and 
character  if  formed  upon  the  purest  models  will  be  radiant 
with  piety;  her  presence  will  diffuse  light  as  well  as  know- 
ledge. Impiety  is  the  offspring  of  ignorance.  Right  edu- 
cation teaches  the  need  of  prayer,  and  as  the  child  kneels 
by  the  mother’s  side  and  with  folded  hands  repeats  “Our 
Father  who  art  in  heaven,”  a benison  from  heaven  will  rest 
upon  them  both.  The  surest  pledge  of  remembrance,  the 
truest  bond  of  love,  is  cemented  in  the  united  prayer  of  a 
mother  and  her  child.  “Never,  never  has  one  forgotten 
a pure  right-educating  mother;  on  the  blue  mountains  of 
our  dim  childhood,  towards  which  we  ever  turn  and  look 
back,  stand  the  mothers  who  marked  out  to  us  from  thence 
our  life.” 

How  great,  then,  is  the  responsibility  which  the  social 
position  of  woman  forces  upon  her.  She  must  prepare  the 
cup  for  infant  lips ; but  if  she  carelessly  allow  poison  to 
mingle  with  the  draught,  or  in  weakness  withhold  a neces- 
sary ingredient,  she  must  herself  wring  out  the  dregs  in 
bitterness.  If  she  soil  the  purity  of  the  cherub,  or  taint 
with  spot  of  earth  its  golden  plumage,  she  may  rob  heaven 
of  its  treasure  and  fill  earth  with  groanings.  But  if  she 
direct  aright  the  tender  growth  of  childhood,  she  may  in 
old  age  be  sustained  by  the  ministering  of  the  angel  who 
in  infancy  nestled  in  her  bosom;  or  if  this  be  denied  her, 


40 


PENNSYLVANIA 


and  she  must  in  sorrow  yield  up  her  child  to  God  who 
gave  it, 

“ When  that  mother  meets  on  high 
The  babe  she  lost  in  infancy, 

Hath  she  not  then  for  pains  and  fears, 

The  day  of  woe — the  watchful  night ; 

For  all  her  sorrows,  all  her  tears, 

An  overpayment  of  delight  ?-5 

With  a well  directed  education  a mother  may  anticipate 
even  this  great  joy,  for  life  is  but  a point  in  existence,  and 
education  begun  here  is  finished  only  when  “tongues  shall 
cease,”  and  “knowledge  be  done  away.” 

III.  Such  views  of  Female  Education  accord  with  the 
teachings  and  influence  of  Christianity. — We  look  in  vain 
over  the  records  of  antiquity  to  find  traces  of  the  true 
position  of  woman.  Greece  with  her  cultivation  did  not 
discover  it.  Rome,  with  her  practical  enlightenment, 
never  perceived  it.  The  annals  of  Heathendom  contain 
no  page  gilded  with  the  acknowledgment  of  her  rights,  or 
lightened  with  a glimpse  of  her  privileges.  In  all  hea- 
then lands  she  is  to  this  day  the  household  drudge, 
the  slave  of  caprice  ; the  loom  and  the  wheel  are  recog- 
nized as  her  true  position ; to  sutler,  her  true  destiny.  Min- 
istering comfort  and  furnishing  happiness,  she  is  never 
ministered  to  or  her  happiness  consulted  ; torn  from  her 
offspring,  maternal  tenderness  never  ripens  in  her  bosom. 
In  none  but  Christian  lands  does  woman  mingle  freely 
even  with  her  own  sex,  nowhere  else  are  her  natural  in- 
stincts allowed  their  true  clevelopement.  Elsewhere  her 
babe  must  be  cast  upon  the  Ganges,  her  body  binned  upon 
her  husband’s  funeral  pyre.  Even  when  intellectual  supe- 
riority displays  itself  there  is  no  surer  barrier  from  sym- 
pathy ; she  is  separated  from  her  sex  and  kindred  by 
more  than  monastic  seclusion.  It  required  a charm  more 


FEMALE  COLLEGE. 


41 


potent  than  mere  intellectual  culture  to  break  her  bonds, 
for  however  romance  may  gild,  or  poetry  may  burnish 
them,  they  are  but  fetters  still. 

To  break  up  the  deep  seated  evils  of  polygamy,  to 
change  the  whole  structure  of  society,  to  give  woman 
all  that  endears,  all  that  ennobles  her,  required  the 
power  that  has  been  found  in  Christianity,  and  only 
in  its  teachings.  Christ  ministered  to  her,  and  though 
rebuked  by  his  disciples,  and  ridiculed  by  the  world, 
he  received  her  offerings  and  granted  her  requests.  She 
followed  him  as  he  went  through  the  world  relieving 
its  suffering,  healing  its  sorrows;  and  learned  from  his 
hallowed  example  and  his  binning  lips,  the  first  lessons 
of  humanity  and  love.  She  wept  sorrowing  “last  at 
his  cross,”  and  the  breaking  dawn  of  the  third  morning 
found  her  waiting  at  his  tomb.  His  last  expiring  voice 
committed  his  aged  mother  to  the  care  of  his  best  loved 
disciple;  and  the  listening  ear  of  Mary,  in  the  Garden, 
heard  his  first  words  when  he  rose  from  the  dead. 

Wherever  Christianity  has  spread,  there  the  position  of 
woman  has  been  elevated,  her  influence  been  acknow- 
ledged, and  her  true  position  recognized.  The  false 
prophet  assigned  her  no  place  in  Paradise ; but  Heaven 
would  scarce  be  home  to  the  Christian  without  a mother’s 
smile.  Her  influence  has  extended  under  the  fostering 
care  of  Christianity,  until  it  is  entwined  in  every  enter- 
prize  of  charity  and  love.  Her  form  is  associated  with 
all  that  ennobles,  all  that  blesses  earth.  She  sanctifies 
the  hearth-stone,  ministers  to  infancy,  strengthens  the 
maturity  of  manhood,  and  sustains  the  tottering  steps 
of  age ; and  the  green  spot  in  memory  is  the  hour  en- 
deared by  a mother’s  love  and  gladdened  by  a sister’s 
smile. 


42 


PENNSYLVANIA  FEMALE  COLLEGE. 


We  demand  then,  for  woman,  an  education  broad  in  its 
basis,  complete  in  its  details,  enduring  in  its  influence ; an 
education  that  will  qualify  her  to  reform  social  abuses  and 
fully  meet  the  demands  of  her  position  as  wife  and  mother, 
and  which,  above  all,  will  prepare  her  as  a human  being 
for  the  vicisitudes  of  time  and  the  joys  of  Eternity. 


' 

- 

- 
' 


- .» 


REVISED  RATE  OF  EXPENSES 

OP 

PENNSYLVANIA  FEMALE  COLLEGE, 

AT  HARRISBURG. 


Board,  including  fuel  and  lights,  per  ses- 
sion, -------  $30  00 

Washing  and  ironing,  - - - - 3 00 

Tuition  in  collegiate  department,  embracing 
the  higher  English  branches,  together 
with  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages,  and 
Mathematics,  per  term,  - - - - 10  00 

Tuition  in  Preparatory  Department — 

First  class,  - - 8 00 

Second  class,  - - 6 00 

Elementary  class,  - 4 00 

Music  on  Piano,  Harp  or  Guitar,  - - 10  00 

Use  of  instrument,  - - - - - 2 00 

French,  German,  Italian  and  Spanish,  each,  5 00 
Drawing  and  Painting  at  Professors  charges, 
Stationery,  per  term,  - - - - 1 00 

Day  pupils  will  be  charged  for  fuel,  mak- 
ing fires,  &c.,  for  two  terms — each,  - - 1 00 


It  is  expected  that  boarding  pupils  will  make  pay- 
ment per  session  in  advance. 

A deduction  of  ten  per  cent,  from  the  above  rates  will 
be  made  when  two  or  more  from  the  same  family  are 
in  attendance  at  the  College. 

Fall  Term  commences  Sept.  5,  ends  Nov.  21. 

Winter  Term  “ Nov.  22,  ends  Feb.  7. 

Spring  Term  “ Feb.  8,  ends  Ap.  27. 

Summer  Term  “ Ap.  28,  ends  July  14. 

Vacation  of  one  week  or  ten  days  at  Christmas,  and 
of  seven  weeks  at  the  close  of  the  Summer  Term. 

Nov.  15th,  1853. 


PENNSYLVANIA  FEMALE  COLLEGE, 


TEMS  ©F  T(UJnTD®IJa. 

This  College,  opened  with  public  ceremonies  on  the  5th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1853,  is  now  in  successful  operation  and  prepared  to  receive  and 
accommodate  pupils.  The  building  is  new  and  commodious,  well 
lighted,  ventilated,  and  furnished.  The  course  of  Study  adopted  is 
ample,  and  the  instruction  thorough ; intended  to  develope  the  Intel- 
lectual, Social,  and  Moral  faculties,  and  fit  the  Pupil  for  the  active 
duties  of  life.  The  Trustees  intend  that  this  College,  as  a Literary 
Institution,  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  age  and  the  purposes  of  a 
sound  Education,  shall  be  second  to  no  other  in  the  Union.  At  the 
close  of  the  Collegiate  year  (in  July)  a general  examination  will  he 
had,  and  Diplomas  and  Degrees  awarded  td'such  as  have  completed 
the  studies  of  the  Collegiate  course. 

In  connection  with  the  Collegiate,  there  is'^i  Preparatory  Depart- 
ment for  younger  pupils — tlie  sisters  of  those  in  the  Collegiate  classes. 

The  Scholastic  year  will  consist  of  four  sessions  of  eleven  weeks 
each.  Pupils  will  he  charged  only  from  the  time  of  their  entering. 

TERMS. 

Boarding,  including  washing,  ironing,  fuel,  and  light,  per 

sesssion $37  50 

TUITION  IN  THE  COLLEGIATE  DEPARTMENT, 

Embracing  all  of  the  English  branches,  with  Latin,  Greek 

and  Mathematics,  if  desired,  per  session $12  50 

PREPARATORY  DEPARTMENT, 

According  to  the  grade  of  studies,  per  session,  from  $6  00  to  $10  00. 
DEPARTMENT  OF  MODERN  LANGUAGES. 

French,  German,  Italian,  and  Spanish,  per  session $5  00 

MUSICAL  DEPARTMENT. 

Music  on  the  Piano,  Harp,  or  Guitar,  with  use  of  instruments,  at  the 
usual  price. 

Where  two  pupils  of  the  same  family  are  sent,  there  will  be  a 
deduction  of  ten  per  cent,  on  the  whole  bills  for  tuition  and  boarding. 
For  particulars  as  to  Studies,  Terms,  &c.,  address  the  Principal, 

B.  R.  WAUGH, 

No.  72,  Market  street , Harrisburg , Venn. 


